


seeds of Discord Part 24

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [25]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Crossover Pairings, F/M, One True Pairing, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:57:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3402569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone or something is causing violent riots to erupt all over the U.S., and whatever it is, it wreaks havoc with both Wonder Woman's health and Bruce Banner's ability to keep his rage in check.</p><p>Aftermath of battle</p>
            </blockquote>





	seeds of Discord Part 24

Diana knows the sound and feel of her mother’s chambers without opening her eyes. She knows the name of every flower that hangs overhead and scents the air of the queen’s personal baths. Hippolyta and her attendants sponge her over and over with warm rosewater until the last of the blood dissolves and the water runs clear. “Man’s world is not worth the pain you endure.” Her mother’s voice is soothing and sorrowful. “What was it, Mother? Do you know?” Hippolyta shakes her head slowly. She looks devastated. “It doesn’t matter,” she tells her. “This isn’t the end. I know this much to be true.” She places her palm over Diana’s abdomen and belly. Although Hippolyta’s hands are cool and soothing; beneath her skin it stings and burns and throbs. Something unwinds and drips from inside like dough from a beater. She closes her eyes. “Wake up, my love, this isn’t the end.” The voice is sad and cajoling.

“C’mon, please.” Something warm rests on her lap. “If you love me you’ll wake up.” She hovers her hand above it and then rests her hand against it. She feels a familiar hand. Not her mother’s—larger and somewhat rougher, with long fingers. It’s dark though, and the last thing she remembers is Eris towering over her with a sword that looked forged by Hephaestus Himself. She opens her eyes but can’t prop herself up. “Why am I strapped down? Where are we?” Panicking, she forces herself up and rips through the fabric belts attached to the bed. She yelps in pain, and he very gingerly props her up under his arm. She lets him take on her weight as she looks around the hellicarrier’s clinic. Two beds over, Bruce is strapped down, unconscious. “Thank you Athena and Aphrodite,” she whispers. Then she remembers Steve’s last statement and does her best to fix him in a stare. “Do not ever ask me to test my devotion, husband. Even my triumph will end painfully for you.” He beams down at her. 

“Hey, we did it. We got them. And we saved Bruce. Nyx is in lockdown. We’re on our way home. Well, we’re on our way to SHEILD’S hospital wing, but once you’re healed up we’ll be going home.” The words swirl around her head. She feels herself sinking, and he guides her back onto her pillow. “What about Eris?”

“We’ll get her,” Steve assures.

“There was something I needed to tell you,” she starts, but he’s tucking her in and smoothing her hair. “You rest. It can wait.” She tries to shake her head. “No I can’t remember but I had to tell you something.” He kisses her forehead and says, “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She lets him guide her back down. “You’re safe now,” he repeats, even after he knows Diana’s fallen asleep. He strokes her hair and tries to read his book, but can’t concentrate. After reading the same paragraph of his Bradbury story for the fifth time, he finally puts the book down and closes his eyes. They won’t stay closed. He stares out the window as they pass through a puffy, white cloud. For the second time since they’d even heard of The Concordance Group, he thanks the gods, his mother-in-law, and the god of his own semi-lapsed faith for protecting his wife while he could not. “What the hell good is it to be this powerful if I can’t protect my own,” he muses. 

As if on cue, Thor quietly knocks on the door pulls up a chair next to him. They say nothing for several minutes, alternately staring out at the sky and at Diana asleep. “She’s going to go after Eris.”

Thor grunts in agreement.

“How do you do it, Thor?” Steve finally asks. “How do you keep the ones you love safe? How do you be a soldier and a human being at the same time?”

Without hesitating, he replies, “You trust the part of you that loves with the part of you that fights. I know little of the Amazonian culture. My understanding, though, is that they fight equally from places of love and wisdom. As do you. Your duty is not to keep her safe. Your duty is to trust her, my friend.”

They sit silently for a long time, until the room grows dim and Steve feels his eyes close and catches himself before he tumbles forward from his seat. He props himself against a wall and nods off as Thor leaves.

Diana discovers that she has been moved once again the next time she opens her eyes. She jerks upright and Steve puts his hand on her arm. “Whoa, it’s alright, you’re safe.” It’s Bruce’s voice. A moment later he is leaning over her. She hugs her friend tightly and kisses his cheek. “You’re okay! I was afraid they’d hurt you!”

Bruce blushes a bit. “Not me,” he replies with a smile. Who’d take care of you then?”

Steve clears his throat and says, “Me.” He narrows his eyes and looks alternately at Diana and Bruce. Bruce extricates himself from Diana’s embrace and backs off, indicating that he’s gotten the message. Diana, however, appears blissfully unaware. She reaches out for Steve with one hand and clings to Bruce’s with the other. “You’ll come over for dinner when I’m better, we insist.” Bruce glances at Steve. “Sure.” Steve says. “Yeah.”

“Hey, you need to grow another couple of arms, lady,” she hears Tony say from across the room. A moment later, Tony and Pepper both drape themselves over her and Steve directs them way. “Give her some room to breathe!” he admonishes. Before Tony peels himself away he kisses her hand and says, “Sorry I blasted you. You would’ve bled out if you’d managed to pull Eris’ sword out of yourself though.” She hugs him tight. “If you can’t trust your friends to shoot you, why have enemies,” she tells him.” Pepper laughs and says, “Indeed!” Tony looks sideways at Steve, who merely shrugs. “I’m sure there are at least two or three mixed-up aphorisms there,” he explains. “It’s an ongoing process.” 

The parade of well-wishers continues throughout the day. Thor brings Jane along to visit briefly. Clint ruffles Diana’s hair and says, “You had us worried there, kiddo.” Natasha just hugs her. “Anything you need, sweetie,” she whispers. She looks at Diana sadly. “You knew,” Diana tells her. “I should have listened.” Natasha kisses her cheek and repeats, “Anything you need, anytime.” 

“Knew what?” Steve asks as their friend leaves. “Why does she look like she’s leaving a funeral?”

Before she replies, Director Fury shows up with flowers and thanks; later on Maria Hill comes by, as does Phil, also with flowers. “We’re working on a pretty good spin for the Wonder Debacles,” Coulson assures her. “Wonder Woman just took down some terrorists, and well, you’ve been here with the flu since Cap left for the show-down. Your neighbors and colleagues all swear you’ve been unwell lately, anyway.” 

Steve smiles. “It’s good to have neighbors looking out for each other,” he says. “I like where we live. It used to be the whole neighborhood took care of each other. At least we’ve got a building.” 

“You’re old fashioned,” Diana jokes. But she agrees. “Just another couple of days and we get to go home.”

By the end of the day Diana’s hospital room is a veritable flower garden. “Almost as if people here know you, Steve says. “I’ll enjoy them for now, but most of them are going to other hospital patients with no visitors,” Diana replies. Steve smiles and thinks of the many times Diana claims that she is selfish. Bruce comes in once more before visiting hours are over for all but immediate family. He checks Diana’s I.V. drip and admonishes her for turning off the pain medication altogether. She smirks back at him. “You guys have some things to discuss, I’m sure,” he says. He pats Steve on the back and looks sympathetically at them both, and then he walks to the door and quietly shuts it behind him. 

“Okay Diana, something’s going on between you and Natasha and Bruce. What am I missing this time?”

She shuts her eyes, and shivers. “I’m sorry.”

“About what? What happened? Are you okay? I thought you were gonna be okay! Couldn’t they stop the internal bleeding after all? Was Eris using a special sword that keeps you from healing the way you usually do? Should Natasha wake her up and interrogate her?” 

She holds up a hand to signal “stop.” Then she says, “I’ll live.” She takes a moment to gain some composure and sits up to face him. “I suspect that Eris is actually the real goddess, not a human being. After she stabbed me, I was transported by the gods again.” Steve feels his whole body stiffen. He is on the edge of cursing. “Don’t you dare give me that look,” Diana tells him.

She watches him do his best to put on what she calls his soldier face. “Anyway,” she continues, I was brought home by an avatar of Hermes. I saw my mother.” She watches as his expression soften. “I understood something the moment I appeared before her. I understood it before she said anything; in fact I don’t think she said much at all. I think the doctors here figured it out while they were treating me, so Bruce knew because of that. Natasha just…guessed. I didn’t believe her though. She said she suspected what really made me so tired and moody and I told her she was absolutely incorrect.”

“So, your girlfriend and Bruce are once again in on something and I am not. Do I get to be filled in as well?” He does his best to keep his voice even, rather than allowing it to crescendo. “She’s not well; English isn’t her first language,” he reminds himself with no small amount of futility.

She looks plaintive, though, and whatever she wants to say, she clearly feels it. Diana is very bad at lying, and she doesn’t try to. She looks Steve directly in the face. “When Eris stabbed through me with her sword, I was about five weeks…” she can’t even say the word. So she skips to the next sentence. “I can’t promise that I would have turned down the rescue mission if I really thought it was true. I swear I would have told you if I’d known though and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t know, I’m sorry that I don’t know whether I would have taken it seriously, and I really do feel bereft at the outcome. ” Steve pulls her to him and holds her and they bury their heads into one another’s shoulders and hold each other up. “My mother healed me and told me it can still happen. But I’m not human. I was formed by clay that was wet with Demeter’s tears over missing her only daughter. I can bear children because the tears of the goddess of childbearing are part of my makeup. But I have no idea how to plan or prevent it.” She takes a few deep breaths. “I’m so sorry,” she feels more tears well up as she speaks. “I…”

Once again she doesn’t finish her sentence, this time because her husband has sealed if off. He kisses her mouth and he kisses her tears even as his own fall. “You’re here,” he tells her. He cups her face and looks directly into her eyes. “You are the only thing that’s important right now and you are alive and here. It wasn’t time for the rest. It’ll happen when we’re both ready, but you were right. It’s a loss and it would’ve been amazing but sweetheart you were right all along.” He wipes away a tear. The tear is for watching her nearly die, again. It’s for not being there to protect her, again. It’s for what might have been different. “All that matters is you’re here with me now.” He scoots closer onto the hospital bed and they hold onto each other tightly.


End file.
